Reviews of ‘American Sniper’ American Sniper is a 2014 movie about Chris Kyle, a Navy Seal Sniper who served 4 tours of duty in Iraq, and credited with being the most lethal United States Sniper of all time. The movie follows Kyle’s life from the attacks of 9/11, the impetus for joining the military, through his 4 combat tours as a sniper in Iraq, and the years after his military service, including the event that led to his death in 2013. Much of the film shows Kyle’s combat experience, the actions he took, and consequently the turmoil that results from those actions. The movie was not only a commercial success, it was also a catalyst for debate on the morality of war, and how it affects those who fight wars. The first review I read was …show more content…
Bonenburger himself a combat veteran, he launches into his review describing how the movie, in its release infancy, already is proving highly controversial and polarizing along certain demographics and how the movie’s portray of military life compares with what he experienced himself. Furthermore, he then delves deeper, discussing not only the storyline, but what the movie is really showing the audience. His perspective shows when he writes “Very little actually happens in American Sniper. The spiritual and emotional progress of the characters is limited to basic states of existence (good or bad, alive or dead), and none of them evolve despite numerous encounters with tragedy and misfortune.” (Bonenburger). Bonenburger relays to the reader, in his opinion, the movie stays superficial, it never pushes past the stereotypical “good versus evil” platitudes so it may explore the subject in depth, and in failing to do so, it denies the audience a truly powerful experience. Bonenburger’s review is subjectively based on a comparison to his own experience and will appeal to veterans and to film enthusiasts who want to know how accurate the film captures military …show more content…
The subject matter in American Sniper is controversial. I believe Bonenburger’s wrote the superior review, he gave due credit to the subject matter and provided an insider’s perspective. The subject matter has weight. It delves into how humans legitimize, or perhaps rationalize, the brutality of armed combat. This isn’t a lighthearted tale. This movie depicts one of the more desperate and severe aspect of our culture; vilifying other humans to the point where we readily accept killing them in the name of patriotism, therefore reviews of such subject matter should reflect the same
During the times of war, lines are blurred and deaths arise where guilt has no room to wrap itself around a soldier’s head as they choose between killing and being killed. Under the summer evening and heavy artillery fire of Dublin, Ireland, a republican sniper lays waiting, in a fanatical haze, behind the parapet of a building’s roof. He decides to light a cigarette, despite the risk of exposure, and encounters an enemy sniper opposite the street from his position. Promptly after, an enemy vehicle approaches, met by an informant, who divulged the sniper’s location. Having to execute the informant and a soldier exposed in the open turret, the marksman seeks upon the rival sniper, killing him by a ruse of playing dead along with an arm shot and feebly. Following a moment of hysteria, he evades the bullets of a machine gun, throwing himself aside the corpse only to find it to be his brother. In “The Sniper”, Liam O’Flaherty suggests the
War is something that can change the very principles of a person, it can change a person and leave multiple effects that can last for their entire life. The sniper is fighting in a civil war where friends and family can turn into enemies at a moment's notice. The fight is between the Republicans and the Free Staters, the protagonist is a sniper for the Republicans. Throughout the story, we go into the state of mind of the main character and learn some ramifications that he gained in the war. The text, “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty shows us the physical and psychological results of war, that happens to people.
American Sniper by Chris Kyle, is one of the most accurate depictions of the life in special
The opening scene of the movie American Sniper, “which tells the story of Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL who shot his way to 160 confirmed kills in Iraq,” (Buckley) starts out when Chris Kyle was just a child and him and his father are out in the forest shooting deer and him beating up a bully who was picking on his little brother at school. Later on into Kyle 's young adulthood he made a decision to quit being a cowboy rodeo star and instead enlist with the Navy SEALS in 1998. During this time Kyle meets his future wife. Then, once after the trauma of 9/11, the war in Iraq puts Kyle to work as a sharpshooter, and the film shows his skills as frightening and strange. From this point, the arc of the film essentially follows Kyle across his missions as a sniper. An important element of the plot is his face-off with an enemy sniper Mustafa, A Syrian sniper who was a former Olympian rifleman, who Kyle does manage to take out near the end of the film. Kyle was shot and killed later on by a veteran who he was actually trying to help. Even though every Iraq citizen isn 't a terrorist, American Sniper should be known for its stereotypes against race because the invisible norm of the white dominant culture and the display of the male body, white males in particular. Also to add to that the movie is showing the masculine spectacle and its collapse by portraying Iraq and how all they want to do is kill Americans.
In modern warfare a sniper’s role is critical for gathering intelligence, and providing protection for the other ground units in the area of operation. Their goal is explicit, to undetectably infiltrate an enemy’s position in order to effectively engage targets to reduce the enemy’s fighting capabilities under their creed “one shot, one kill”. American Sniper is written by Chris Kyle, and is an account of his four tours in the Iraq War as a Navy SEAL while earning his spot in history as the most lethal sniper in the United States military. During Kyle’s tours in Fallujah, Ramadi, and Sadr city he recorded over 160 confirmed kills. Kyle’s autobiography covers not only daily life on the war front, but the personal and family struggles at
Chris Kyle and William James are both dedicated warriors that had spent hundreds of hours training for a war in a foreign country overseas. Both individuals enjoyed their work during training and craved to fight for their country, however they became addicted to the dangerous and exhilarating thrills of battle. Kyle had written about his journey from high school to becoming a Navy Seal in American Sniper using oxymorons, symbolism and emotional language from the perspective of himself, as well as his wife. Kathryn Bigelow presented the story of James’ experience in Iraq by implementing stylistic features such as music, cinematography and atmosphere. These texts revealed the life of the protagonist in their perspectives showing their frequent close encounters with death, but continue to return on multiple deployments despite the fear, but for the ecstasy of combat. Kyle and James do not care for politics; James represents the ordinary soldier on the ground conducting an extraordinary job whereas Kyle represents the stereotypical hero conducting a secret job. But, both individuals suffer from the same dangerous addiction where they savour fighting in combat. Chris Kyle dedicated his life to staying fit and continuing his military education so he could fight overseas. “I wanted to fight. I wanted to do what I’d been trained for. American taxpayers had invested considerable dollars in my education as a SEAL. I wanted to defend my country, do my duty, and do my job. I wanted more
In “The Sniper”, the main character is thrown into a revolutionary civil war. He’s pressed to make quick decisions off of his training and human instinct. The protagonist in “Ambush” is faced with the same issue, he’s in a bunker on watch waiting for something to happen. He’s trained to react when something does, but his humanly instinct tells him otherwise. Both characters soon make decisions they regret, but can’t take back. “I’ll watch him walk toward me, his shoulders slightly stooped, his head cocked to the side, and he’ll pass within a few yards of me and suddenly smile at some secret thought and then continue up the trail to where it bends back into the fog,” (“Ambush”) said by the protagonist, this clues the reader in on the fact that he regrets his decision of killing the innocent man who may have never harmed him. Albeit someone senior to him told him that it was right and completely justified, he still feels distraught and remorseful about what he had done. “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother's face,” (“The Sniper”) said
U.S. Navy SEAL ,Chris Kyle was just the average die hard Texan. He aspired to become a cowboy, but it wasn’t working out in his favor. After seeing the horrors of terrorism on 9/11 he was ready to fight for his country and enlisted into the military. He goes on to fight in four tours and becomes the deadliest sniper in American history. After each tour, he felt that he had to go back. He had two goals that he couldn’t give up on; protecting his team and taking out the deadliest enemy sniper, Mustafa. Chris would not stop until he achieved his goals, when he finally did, he faced a new battle. He struggled with normal daily life, but even then he persevered and found a new passion to aid him. Throughout this film, Clint Eastwood portrays the theme of perseverance through the use of setting, camera angles, and the main character Chris Kyle.
There are many ways of thinking of military snipers. They can be compared to predators in the wild, a skillful killing machine that kills out of necessity and has the respect of their companions. Snipers can also be thought of as prey. They are given a challenging task that requires skill to elude the enemy and often preys upon their mental toughness. In Boyden’s book Three Day Road the author uses many passages to compare the role of a sniper to the role of both predator and prey in the wilderness. These comparisons help the reader relate to the experiences of two indigenous boyhood friends, Elijah and Xavier as snipers in World War 1. Instead of shooting caribou back home in Canada as boys, they are now shooting German soldiers in the trenches
War is truly violent and awful job, especially for a sniper. Shooter is about a Marine scout sniper named Jack Coughlin that plays a small role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. His new style of urban sniping makes it much easier for his fellow Marines. He takes out threats before they can even come close to his men. He is at the front of the action as the ¾ battalion moves from town to town on a campaign to Baghdad. In this journal, I will visualize a sandstorm, clarifying Jack meeting the person he shot, that lived, and connecting Jack meeting his enemy and a football game.
“The American Sniper” by Chris Kyle is an account of the deadliest American sniper ever, called “the devil” by the enemies he hunted and “the legend” by his Navy SEAL brothers. From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyle's kills (the previous American record was 109). Iraqi insurgents feared Kyle so much they named him al-Shaitan (“the devil”) and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle earned legendary status among his fellow SEALs, Marines, and U.S. Army soldiers, whom he protected with deadly accuracy from rooftops and stealth positions. Kyle presents the gripping and unforgettable accounts of
The sniper develops insensitivity to death during the war. When he kills the old woman, she’s trying to run away and isn’t really a threat. He even “utters a cry of joy” when he finally shoots the enemy sniper. This shows how war can get people caught up in the cat-and-mouse “game” aspect of it and forget what they’re actually doing—killing people. People get so caught up in the “game” that they don’t think about the repercussions for their actions.
"The Sniper" places a strong emphasis on the evils of war, and yet paints a vivid image of mankind's qualities and their society. Employing the technique of describing one particular sniper to symbolise a general subject, readers are able to gain a deep insight into the evils of war. In this story, the assembly of setting, contrasting characters and themes of fanaticism and division of loyalties are vital to conveying the horror of war. On the other hand, "The Sniper" also discusses the power of war, depicting it as the decider of life and death for men. Its force is further emphasised when neighbours are turned into enemies under war's influence.
This week I watched the movie American Sniper for the hundredth time and every time I see it, it feels like the first time. It is a sad movie but also one of the best movies I have ever see. American Sniper is based on a true story about a former Navy Seal by the name of Chris Kyle, who was known as the deadliest sniper in U.S History. He was only 38 when he was killed by a former veteran who served in the marines named Eddie Ray Routh. He was diagnosed with PTSD. I later read an article about the Government should be able to do more to treat veterans with PTSD. The case that was talked about in the article was the veteran that killed Chris Kyle and there was a lot of questions being asked rather the Government is doing all it can to recognize
Saving Private Ryan is a movie that generates strong responses from most people that see it. While interviewing four individuals and reading three movie reviews, I found that each of my subjects would recommend it, not one of the individuals interviewed felt the violence was senseless, and all of them left the movie with a strong emotional response of some kind. It appears that Saving Private Ryan is the kind of movie to which many can relate.